Special flight to mark commercial aviation’s 100 years

Are you an aviation enthusiast? Then head to Florida on January 1, 2014. To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of commercial aviation, International Air Transport Association (IATA) is supporting the re-enactment of the flight when the first paying passenger, who paid $400 in an auction for the ticket on a scheduled airline flight, was transported across Tampa Bay in Florida on January 1, 1914.
IATA’s special website, along with social media outlets, will create awareness about the event.
The first paying passenger was the former Mayor of St. Petersburg Abe Pheil, who boarded the small seaplane which lifted from the water in St. Petersburg’s downtown. The plane landed 23 minutes later in Tampa, thus launching the world’s first regular scheduled commercial airline flight.
The airline had operated two scheduled round-trips daily across Tampa Bay, with two bi-wing seaplanes called ‘Benoist Airboats’. The regular one-way fare was $5. With average air speeds of 60 mph, the flight time between the Bay cities was a fraction of the time required for the trip by car, rail or boat.
Read News in full 13/12/13 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line